By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Sometimes it pays to gamble with the feds.
That’s what legendary ex-Pennsylvania state Sen. Vincent J. Fumo learned.
The wily politician was apparently offered a plea agreement before trial which called for him to plead guilty to one count of fraud and get no more than 5 years, according to a story in the Philadelphia Daily News.
Fumo passed on that, went to trial and was convicted. The other day, U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter gave him 55 months in prison, less than what he could have gotten under the plea.
The sentence triggered a lot of griping from a number of people including ex-U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan, who was in office when the case began. Meehan thought the sentence was far too light.
“I was in the courtroom. I have yet to hear him acknowledge that he stole money,” Meehan said, according to the Associated Press.
The Philadelphia Daily News also reported that the 5 year offer was taken off the table in February 2008 and later replaced with a 10 year maximum sentence.
